Going Postal: The Lost Package

This isn't a post about the package that got lost in the mail on the way to Greg at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle. I wish I knew where that package went, though. USPS says the new package I sent him this week got there Friday. Hopefully it did!

AJ, The Lost Collector himself, contacted me about a month ago with an offer of some oddballs towards the sampler collection. Over the next couple weeks, he fought hard against my list of cards, finally finding a nice stack of cards he had that I didn't!

 First, these major-manufacturer oddities. The Fielder is a team collection issue, as identified by the silver foil logo in the bottom left and a stamp-like printing on the back. Ron Guidry was rescued from the bottom of an '86 Topps box (aren't we all glad Topps didn't use the red border in the main set?), and Righetti worked his way into one of Fleer's 1980s box sets. I miss those types of issues.

 Now we head down to the farm. Ruben Rivera is a promo, and Buchanan is from one of those Classic Four Sport issues (and people complained when there are football players in baseball products like Goodwin and Ginter?). Ryan Karp is from Fleer's minor league efforts, a card from a set I was surprised to find I didn't have.

 Staying down in the minors, Royal Rookies was a minor league set that really worked the autograph angle, before products like Leaf Signature would bring heavy amounts of autographs to MLB products. There's another Fleer Excel card - which looks a lot like that year's Ultra design, and an Arizona Fall League prospects set card! The AFL card is probably the most difficult to find card from this bunch.

 1993 Fleer, but not just any '93 Fleer. This is the Final Edition set. What does that matter? Not much, except it's a different set, which I somehow overlooked in my collection.

 I scanned the wrong side of the Canseco. On the back (front, actually) of this mini are two stickers from the '90 Topps sticker set. I already had a back, but if I remember correctly, the stickers were gone. This means I now have the stickers and the back! And Roger Maris is one of those score lenticular one-per-pack inserts. These weren't even listed in my spreadsheet, so I had to add them in. I have a big tin full of these sitting in my closet here, but completely didn't realize they weren't in inventory.

 Lucky card 13 added to the sampler collection is this nice Richie Sexson jersey! I think I have some non-jersey inserts from this set, or I have one of these cards in a different collection, or I've just seen the card around too much, because this design is so familiar yet I don't have one!

 AJ helped out with my Team USA collection, kicking off the 2010 Bowman DPP set with three regular and a chrome (I stuck them together to start one little frankteam set).

Last, a TTM autograph of Randy Velarde. Velarde has never had an autographed card inserted into packs, so the only way to get his ink on cardboard is through the mail or in person. AJ luckily had an extra and was very kind to include it with the rest of the package! While this card pictures him with the Yankees, I want his autograph for something he did against the Yankees. On May 29, 2000, Velarde turned an unassisted triple play against the Yanks while with the A's - the 11th time in MLB history. My collection of UTP autographs starts post-war, and since the 1940s there have been eight UTPs. I now have autographs from six of them - missing John Valentin and Eric Bruntlett, both of whom also do not have certified autograph releases. Valentin is coaching in Albuquerque, but Bruntlett retired last year.

Thank you AJ for some great cards!